Tennessee § 47-18-1011 - Bond.

§ 47-18-1011. Bond.

In order to provide a degree of protection to customers of credit services businesses, each credit services business shall post a bond in an amount as determined by the commissioner with the department of commerce and insurance for each location conducting business in this state. The bond shall be made with a bond issued by a corporate surety acceptable to the commissioner. If the commissioner has not promulgated a rule setting the required level of bonding, then the bond shall be in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000). The bond shall be maintained for two (2) years following the date on which the credit services business ceases to conduct business in this state. In an action brought by the attorney general and reporter pursuant to § 47-18-1010, the attorney general and reporter shall have the right to request that the total amount of the bond posted by the credit services business be awarded to the state for consumer restitution or civil penalties. Further, any person who has been awarded damages for a private action under this part may make a claim against the bond. Notwithstanding subsection (a), any credit services business that was registered with the division of consumer affairs in the department of commerce and insurance on or before May 1, 1998, shall only be required to post a bond in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) with the department. The bond may be made through a deposit of cash, a certificate of deposit, securities, or with a bond issued by a corporate surety acceptable to the commissioner. Receipt of bonds for credit services businesses posted under this part shall be transferred to the division of regulatory boards in the department of commerce and insurance on and after July 1, 2015. The commissioner may prescribe fees for the filing of a bond with the department of commerce and insurance pursuant to this part. The fees shall be in an amount that provides for the cost of administering the receipt of bonds for credit services businesses. Fees may be adjusted as necessary to provide that the administration of bonds for credit services businesses is fiscally self-sufficient and that revenues from fees do not exceed necessary and required expenditures. Acts 1988, ch. 897, § 11; 1998, ch. 854, § 9; 2000, ch. 874, § 1; 2015, ch. 339, § 23. Amendments. The 2015 amendment rewrote (a), which read: “In order to provide a degree of protection to customers of credit services businesses, each credit services business shall post a bond of one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) with the department of commerce and insurance. Such bond may be made through deposit of cash, a certificate of deposit, securities, or with a bond issued by a corporate surety acceptable to the commissioner.”; substituted “bond shall” for “bond must” at the beginning of (b); added the second sentence of (c); in (d), in the first sentence, added “or before” preceding “May 1, 1998” , deleted “in this state” following “May 1, 1998”, in the second sentence, substituted “The bond” for “Such bond” at the beginning and added “a” preceding “deposit of cash”; and added (e) and (f). Effective Dates. Acts 2015, ch. 339, § 31. July 1, 2015; May 4, 2015, for the purpose of rulemaking.